China & World Economy / 107–126, Vol. 26, No. 2, 2018

Impact of Chinese Characteristics on the World Trade Organization:
Challenges and Strategies

Siqi Li, Xinquan Tu*

Abstract

Following China’s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), it has been impossible to overlook the influence of its economy on the multilateral trading system. Many published studies have examined why China joined the WTO and the comprehensive impacts of WTO membership on China, but few studies have focused on China’s impact on the WTO. This article attempts to fill this gap by examining China’s changing role in the multilateral trading system from political and legal perspectives, seeking to shed light on how Chinese characteristics have reshaped the power structure and rule-based system of the WTO. While its accession has made the WTO more relevant in regards to global trade governance, China has been accused of upsetting the WTO’s rules-based system because of its unique political and economic regime. The WTO and its members should take the Chinese characteristics into consideration and regulate China’s practices through using the dispute settlement mechanism, promoting China’s accession to plurilateral agreements and adopting a “soft law” approach.

Key words: China, global trade governance, World Trade Organization
JEL codes: F13, K33, P20